1400–50; late Middle English milneres thume; the fish is so called from its thumblike head
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The blob or miller's thumb existed in the Gibbon river, and perhaps in other streams, above the falls.
From Fly Fishing in Wonderland by Klahowya
The miller’s thumb is about the size of a gudgeon, to which it is allied, but has a head broader than its body, whence it gets its other name of “bull-head.”
From Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter by Walter, James Conway
The miller, therefore, takes toll of the grist, which is another source of seignorial revenue, although not a very great one, for the toll is, excepting the miller's thumb rights, not very large.
From Canada and the Canadians Volume I by Bonnycastle, Richard Henry
Once when swimming he was bitten on the knee by a horrible fish called on the shores of the Atlantic the miller’s thumb.
From Kenneth McAlpine A Tale of Mountain, Moorland and Sea by Stables, Gordon
We meet with the sturgeon, the whiting, the roach, the miller's thumb, the thomback, the codling, the perch, the gudgeon, the turbot, the pike, the tench, and the haddock.
From Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine by Hazlitt, William Carew
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
